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The Voice of 

St. John, 

AND 

Other Poems. 



WM. WILBERFORCE NEWTON, 

Author of '''' Essays of To-day" 




NEW YORK: 

\NSON D. F. RAN»OiPH & COMPANY, 

900 Broadway, Cor. 20th Street. 



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COPYRIGHT, lS8l, BY 

Anson D. F. Randolph & Company. 



NEW YORK : 
EDWARD O. JENKINS, ROBERT RUTTER, 

Printer and Stereotyper, Binder^ 

20 North William St. iiC and 118 East 141!. Street. 



CONTENTS. 



The Voice of St. John, _ _ _ _ 9 

The Mirage, -------33 

Won and Widowed, - - - - - 36 

The Sphynx, -------40 

The Island Life, ------ 43 

Reassurance, -------46 

Creed and Hope, ------ 48 

Christmas Carol — L, - - - - - 49 

Christmas Carol — II., ----- 51 



Scene : — St. John at Ephesus, on the last Easter- 
day of his life, gathers the members of the church 
together, by the riverside, and tells his converts 
once more, the story of the first Easter-day. 

" Little children .... it is the last time." 

1 John ii. i8. 



PREFACE. 



a -tN the convent of Drontheim, 
Alone in her chamber 
Knelt Astrid the Abbess, 
At midnight, adoring. 
Beseeching, entreating 
The Virgin and Mother. 

" She heard in the silence 
The voice of one speaking 
Without in the darkness, 
In gusts of the night-wind, 
Now louder, now nearer. 
Now lost in the distance. 

" The voice of a stranger 
It seemed as she listened. 
Of some one who answered, 
Beseeching, imploring, 
A cry from afar off 
She could not distinguish. 
7 



PREFACE. 

" The voice of Saint John, 
The beloved disciple, 
Who wandered and waited 
The Master's appearance. 
Alone in the darkness, 
Unsheltered and friendless." 

H. W. Longfellow. 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



I. 

/^^ATHER round me, little children, for my 
\n^ days are ebbing fast, 
And your aged friend and father goeth to his 
home at last. 

Soon the oldest of Apostles, white-haired, worn, 

and craving rest, 
Called by God, must join his brethren, saints and 

martyrs, saved and blest. 

Here, beside the swift Meander, where our holy 

church has stood, 
Saints of Ephesus, I bid you hold the faith and 

seek the good. 

On this happy Easter morning, you have sung 
your hymns of praise, 

And my soul is filled with memories of those far- 
off, wondrous days, 
9 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

When we hurried in the morning, hope befogged 

with clouds of gloom ; 
Hoping much, but fearing most — the silence of 

the sullen tomb. 

Little children ! sure, 1 feel it — 'tis the last time 

my poor breath 
Shall relate the Easter story — how our Lord has 

conquered death. 

Gather round me, then, and listen while I live the 

past once more, 
And recount the golden hours of that Easter-day 

of yore. 



IL 

Gray and cold was the dawn, and darkness hung 

long on the twilight, 
When Mary, the loved one forgiven, from whom 

had departed the devils, 
Limping and halt as she was, for the demons had 

troubled her sorely, 
Tapped at the lattice-door of the house of my 

mother, where Mary, 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

The sister of Mary, the Virgin and wife of Clopas 
were waiting. 

These were the three who had stood by the blood- 
dripping cross of the Saviour, 

Theirs were the hands that received the body of 
Jesus, when Joseph 

Ascending the terrible cross, with Nicodemus, the 
ruler, 

Gently lowered the sheet, and folded the arms of 
the victim. 

Bearing the agonized mother away from the sight 

of the crosses, 
Giving my arm to the sufferer, pierced with the 

sword of her sorrows, 
Surely fulfilling the word which Simeon spake in 

the temple, 
Back from this vision of death, away from the 

shouts of the soldiers, 
Wearied and stricken and worn, I was sleeping the 

sleep of the troubled, 
Guarding the home of our loved one, of Mary, the 

mother of Jesus, 
Hard by the narrow street, that led up to the for- 
tress of Herod. 

II 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

Little knew I of the plan of my mother, that early 
by daybreak 

The women should go to the tomb, to wait for the 
promised deliverance. 

'Twas Salome, my mother, you know, Zebedee's 
wife of Gennesaret, 

Who came to the master of old, and asked for a 
place in the kingdom. 

For those who stood nearest her heart, as she gave 
up her all to the Master, 

Leaving her home in the north, and her husband, 
the fisherman sailor ; 

'Twas Salome, my mother, I say, who prepared for 
this early adventure. 

First at the tomb in the garden, last upon Calva- 
ry's hill-top. 

Busy were they in the work of preparing the spike- 
nard and ointment. 

Hoping and fearing by turns and ready for joy or 
for sorrow. 

Thus in the dark of the morning, before the first 
red of the sunrise. 

Wrapping their mantles about them, their hurrying 
feet sought the Garden. 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



III. 

But hark ! Was it thunder they heard 
Rumbling in darkness so still ? 
Stars in the sky seemed to fall, 
Soldiers affrighted, dismayed. 
Fled from the tomb, and like sheep 
Struck by the fiery bolts 
Of an eastern simoon in the sands 
Of the desert, were fleeing away. 
Trembling, the sisters advanced, 
Where a luminous cloud seemed to rest 
In the rocky recess of the tomb. 
Then came the vision of light ! 
Angels were guarding the place ! 
The stone on the pathway was rolled. 
The sepulchre empty and bright, 
Gave the first note of that joy 
Which to Easter must always belong, 
Telling them Christ was alive! 
Then in the triumph of bliss, 
Quick in her womanly thought, 
Mary, the Magdalene, fled. 
Leaving her comrades behind, 
13 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

To feast op the fulness of faith 
Changed to the richness of sight, 
While the red sun in the heavens 
Poured forth the splendors of day ! 
Never had sunrise till then 
Meant such a flood of bright hopes ; 
Never had light till this morn 
Been such a message from God : 
Never had darkness and fear 
Lurking within the cold tomb 
Been driven away, until now. 

It was then I heard hurrying feet, 

And the latch of the door opened wide, 

At the honne of the mother of Christ, 

Where Simon had come from his tears, 

Humbled and saddened and wan. 

'Twas the Magdalene. Ere she could speak, 

In her face that was lighted with joy, 

The message of triumph I read, 

As she clasped her pale hands and exclaimed : 



H 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



IV. 

The Master has surely arisen ! 

Come, visit the spot where He lay. 
The keepers have fled, and an angel has said, 

" Christ is risen, is risen to-day." 

We have been to the tomb very early. 
With ointment and spikenard, for fear 

Our hopes should deceive us, but, brothers, be- 
lieve us, 
The angels have dried every tear. 

It was dark when we came to the garden. 
And we felt for the latch, as the gray 

Seemed to lighten, our footsteps to brighten 
And herald this wonderful day. 

Yet, perchance it is only a vision, 

Perchance I am dreaming or mad. 
But they've taken away our dear Lord where He 
lay. 
Run quickly ! Behold, and be glad ! 
15 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



Starting away like ships that feel the breeze on the 

canvas, 
Simon and I in the zeal which is born in the 

moment of triumph ; 
Ran through the city's street, till we came to the 

gate of the Garden : 
First at the tomb was I, while Peter came panting 

behind me, 
Weary and worn as he was, from the tears of his 

bitter sorrow. 
Alone we stood at the grave which was silent and 

robbed of its inmate ; 
No vision to us was vouchsafed, and the women 

had gone to the city. 
The guard from the fortress had fled, to carry the 

story to Pilate. 
*' Where were the angels," we asked, " and how 

should we know what the truth was .'' " 
For the sun was climbing the heavens and mystery 

still was our portion. 

'Twas then in our utter amaze, that the Magdalene 

following behind us, 
i6 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN: 

Came to the open tomb, and taking her resolute 

station, 
Said she would watch o'er the grave till she saw a 

new vision of angels : 
Firm in her faith was she, that Jesus was surely 

arisen, 
And trusting her future to God, she uttered this 

song, in her rapture : 



VI. 

I shall behold His face 
And triumph in His love, 

I yet shall see His love for me, 
God's loving care above. 

I may not see His ways, 
Or know His secret plan, 

Yet I can wait His kingly state 
And feel His love for man. 

I can not scan God's will. 

1 linger here in faith. 
Yet I shall see His love to me. 

I'll trust Him unto death. 
17 



THE VOICE OF ST JOHN. 

I shall behold His face, 
His loving form shall see. 

It must be nigh ; I can but sigh, 
Bring me, my Lord, to Thee! 



VH. 



It was then when we had departed, and wended 
our way to the city, 

Seeking the other apostles, to tell them these won- 
derful rumors, 

That Mary, alone in the Garden, beholding a form 
drawing near her, 

Said to the vineyard's watch (supposing the gar- 
dener was coming), 

" If thou hast borne Him hence, oh, tell me where 
thou hast laid Him, 

And I will take Him away, if death is the end of 
my vision. 

But if He is risen indeed — " Then beholding the 
face of the stranger. 

To the earth, as one dead, she fell; while Jesus 

said to her—" Mary ! " 
i8 



THE VOICE OE ST. JOHN. 



VIII. 

"Rabboni, my Master," she cried, 
" Thy feet, O my God, let me clasp ! 
Am I treading the pavement above 
Where freedom is given from doubt ? 
Am I lifted to light that is bliss ? 
Has heaven come down upon earth 
Since Christ over death has the power?" 
Then Jesus to Mary replied ; 
Her face in her mantle shut in, 
As though she were blinded with light : 
*' Touch me not yet, O my child. 
Not yet to my Father in heaven 
Bearing the sheaves from the field, 
Bringing the first-fruits of life, 
Have I in triumph gone up. 
But go to my brethren and say, 
Back to our Father and God 
Soon I ascend ; that in joy 
In the kingdom that lieth beyond, 
We for all ages may be 
Brethren, united in life, 
Never by sorrow undone ! " 
19 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

IX. 

Gone in a moment was Christ, and the whispering 

breath of the west wind 
Fanned the penitent's face on the spot where her 

Lord had been standing : 
Leaving the Garden again, she encountered Salome 

and Mary- 
Just by the brook, in the way that leads up to the 

fish-pond of Herod : 
Warm was their loving embrace while the Magda- 
lene sang in her gladness : 



X. 

Hail to the brightness which heralds His glory ! 

Hail to the coming of Christ among men ! 
Back from the tomb He has come, and the story 

Is told us by angels again and again ! 

Death is uncrowned, since the Saviour of mortals 
The grave and destruction has robbed of their 
gloom : 

Victory shines out from heaven's opened portals, 
Jesus has conquered the power of the tomb. 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

Christ is arisen ! O sisters, with gladness, 

Bright shines this Easter morn, bringing Him 
near, 

Lovingly owning Him, banishing sadness, 
Hope springs eternal o'er darkness and fear. 



XL 

sit was then in the court of the temple, the priests 

and the rulers were plotting, 
•How they might silence the tale brought back by 

the terrified soldiers : 
" They have stolen His body away ; say this to 

the wondering people." 
Such was the word of the rulers, such was their 

meaning of Easter. 

Easter noon was it now, when a party of loving 

disciples, 
tVomen, with spices prepared, to lay at the tomb 
' of the prophet, 

i^rom Galilee came, and inquired the way to the 

garden of Joseph, 
Thus they drew near to the cavern, so fern-crowned 

and buried in mosses, 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

Peering within at the place where they thought 

they should see the Lord's body. 
While they were earnestly gazing, amazed to find 

nothing but grave-clothes, 
A luminous flame seemed to shine, and lo, the 

bright forms of two angels 
Told them that Christ was alive, as they chanted 

this song in sweet music : 

XII. 

Awake ! Awake ! Glad voices make. 

Sing praise to Christ the Lord, 

The living Word, 

In earth and heaven 

Eternally adored ! 

For thankful songs 

From hearts and tongues 

To Christ our King is given 

From hearts of men 

Set free again 

And happy saints in heaven. 

'Tis Easter morn, new faith is born, 
The day of days the best. 



22 



ii 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

Sing praise to God ! 
Sing out abroad, 
With joy and hope possessed! 
For now the Prince 
Of Peace hath fought, 
And triumphed o'er the grave, 
With holy arm, 
And strong right hand, 
Omnipotent to .save- 
No shadows now, our spirits bow, 
Our souls are raised on high, 
The Son of man 
In God's own plan 
Has come to earth to die- 
No doubts or fear 
Could hold Him here 
Detained by mortal breath. 
For now He lives 
And freely gives 
Redemption over death ! 



23 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



XIII. 

Frightened, and awe-struck, and still, the women 

from Galilee pondered 
What this strange vision should mean, ere it faded 

away into sunlight. 
Soon to their wondering souls there was joined the 

glad spirit of Mary, 
Who back from the vineyard returned when Jesus 

had vanished before her. 
'' Come, let us seek the disciples, come, let us tell 

the glad tidings." 
Cheerfully thus to the group the Magdalene spoke, 

and then added : 
" Out of a garden man wandered, sin entering in 

by a woman : 
Back to an Eden restored let woman recover the 

doubting." 
Leading the way to the city, the strangers from 

Galilee followed, 
Close on the steps of their guide, as she knocked 

at the door-post of Simon — 

Simon the zealot, I mean, where, sitting within in 

the darkness, 

24 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

rhe scattered disciples were found engaged with 

these obstinate rumors. 
jladly their story they told, but how could the 

brethren believe them ? 
How could it ever be true as Thomas exclaimed 
' 'mid these doublings : 

XIV. 

Now is done our work of faith, 
Can it be that Christ o'er death 
„ Triumphs with His human breath? 

Let them freely say 
What they hope or what they fear ! 
Binding law both far and near 
Rules supreme o'er grief and cheer, 

Night is never day ! 

When the human body dies, 
When the soul from matter flies, 
When the form beloved, lies 

In the silent tomb, 
Who can call us back once more, 
From the strange, mysterious shore, 
Where the gathered souls of yore 

Live beyond earth's gloom ? 
25 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

Nay, my brethren, do not grieve. 
I can ne'er this tale believe. 
Reason can not this receive, 

Can not understand ! 
In the Master's pierced side, 
Where the spear-thrust entered wide, 
In those palms once crucified, 

I must thrust my hand ! 



XV. 



Shades of the evening grew on, while forth to a 

neighboring village, 
Two of our company went, to seek for the absent 

Salome, 
And as in their talk by the way they communed 

with each other and wondered, 
A pilgrim they passed on the road, a wayfarer. 

mantled and hooded, 
Who, joining their steps toward the town, thus 

spoke with a tone of emotion : 

26 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 



XVI. 

" Wherefore this saddened gaze, 
And why this gloom when all around is bright? 
Walks trouble-a companion with you on life's ways, 

Silent and dark as night ? " 

Then Clopas quick replied, 
" Art thou a stranger in Jerusalem, 
And know'st thou not that Jesus Christ hath died ? 

Would' St thou our grief condemn 

" When we had trusted all 
Dur hidden hopes to this, the Son of man, 
The last of all the prophets ; and the pall 

Grows thick o'er every plan? 

" " And certain women brave, 

3ave thrilled our spirits by the news they bring 
'"^rom Joseph's garden, for they say the grave 
Contains not anything — 

"And angels guard the place. 

viorcover, 'tis the third day, and we know 
27 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN: 

He whom we trusted, told us face to face, 
Our faith to sight would grow. 

" vVnd yet we see Him not, 
And fears come in and rob our rising breath. 
On earth there does not seem one favored spot 

Untenanted by death." 

Then the wayfarer said : 
" O fools and slow of heart to take in hand 
All that the prophets and the seers of old 

Have told you : understand 

The purpose of the Lord." 
And then, with earnest look and kindling eye, 
The stranger, from the visions of God's Word, 

Showed them why Christ must die ! 



Then on the shady road 
Which skirts the entrance to Emmaus' slope, 
Reaching, by sunset's hour, their plain abode, 

Aroused with kindling hope, 

They pressed their guest to stay. 

" Abide with us, for it is drawing late, 

And shadows fall," they said, " across the way 

Pass not our humble gate." 
28 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

'Twas eve; and yet 'twas dawn ! 
Quick as a flash while we were breaking bread 
We saw the living face we thought was dead, 

And Christ was gone ! 



XVII. 

'Twas night and the city was still. The paschal 

moon had arisen, 
Silvering the turrets and walls of the castles and 

fortresses grim, 
Light on the temple shone and the shadows were 

growing tall ; 
In the evening watch could be heard the clatter 

of horses' hoofs, 
As down the pavement of stones some lordly Sen- 
ator, late 
To the feast of his Roman friends, in his lumbering 

chariot was driven. 
The cry of the owl so shrill, as he perched in the 

cedars old, 

Or the call of some vender of wares, lost in the 

driver's noise, 

29 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

As he hurried liis mules along, broke in on the 

stillness of night. 
'Tvvas then in a secret room the eleven disciples 

were found, 
With others to whom the reports had been brought 

from the empty grave, 
While wonder and doubt like the tide ruled their 

spirits by turns. 
Into this upper room suddenly entered the brothers 
Who from Emmaus had come, crowning their 

hopes with the tidings: 
*' Jesus is risen indeed ! Simon hath seen Him 

alive ! " 

'Twas then, while with rapture we stood, scanning 
the faces of friends. 

To find that assurance of hope, hidden away in 
our breasts, 

Right in the midst of the group, ere we could know 
what it meant, 

Jesus with glory appeared : Jesus, the same and 
yet changed. 

Changed, yet our Jesus of old, breathing out bless- 
ings on each, 

30 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

"Peace to your spirits," He said Why need 

I tell you the rest ? 
'Tis the food and the drink of the soul ! Soon I 

shall see Him again ; 
Soon in His bosom recline, as once at the passover 

feast 
To me it was given to feel the heart-beats of Him 

who has gone ! 



XVIII. 

Thus I've told again the story 
Of the Resurrection morn, 

How, from out the clouds of darkness, 
Hope for man from God was born. 

Hold this faith, then, do not falter, 
Bear the trials of your life, 

Peace comes after struggle ; after 
Death, there comes eternal life. 

Little children, keep from idols ; 
Heed my faltering words to-day. 
31 



THE VOICE OF ST. JOHN. 

This is God, the only true One. 
This is life, the only way. 

God is true, and all things show it. 

Let your lives your trueness prove 
Can you doubt on Easter morning, 

God is light and God is love? 



32 



THE MIRAGE. 

"IT DOTH NOT YET y| PPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE." 

" Splendor ! Immensity ! Rapture ! Grand words, great things : a 
little definite happiness would be morelo the purpose." — Madame de 
Gasparin. 

)N the mood of suspense I ask, can it be true. 
All this faith which we ch'ng to and trust in 
With courage and joy.? Shall I tremblingly rue 
In the future unknown, this strong certainty 
Steadying my hopes here on earth .' For I am so 

small, 
In the sweep of God's planets ; so tired and lone, 
In the rush of the torrents of souls ! Amid all 
That I know not, nor care for, nor trust in, shall I, 
Still myself as I am, press in at the door 
That moves open at death and admits me to 
Splendor, immensity, rapture, — and more 
Than my mind can conceive of? But shall this 
Be I, this new, wonderful creature.'* Methinks I 
had rather 

33 



THE MIRAGE. 

Be less of the marvel, effulgent in rainbows of bliss, 
And more of the man, who in heaven could gather 
His human ones round Him and live without sin, 

as He was ! 
For how can I love these great powers and angels, 
And all the unknown ones who surge out and in 
From the worlds that I never have dreamed of? 

God, is it thus ? Shall I lose myself there 

In the soul-dust of lives which are numberless, 

depths 
Which I never can enter ? My Father, Oh ! where 
Shall I rest myself, wearied and staggered 
With all this sublimity? O God, is there not by 
Thy throne, in which center the lines of 
Creation's far-reaching expanse, the form and the 

eye 
Of the human one, tinging eternity's colorless blank 
With the blood drops of time, and making in space 
Unsubstantial and airy with cloud-fleece, a firm 
And unchanging reality, where I can place 
My poor wandering feet close by His feet ! Yea, 

ray God, 

1 shall see Thee through Christ ! I shall cling to 

that Hand 

34 



I 



THE MIRAGE. 



iVhich was pierced for my sins, and though awed 
By the shining of infinite light, still my soul 
Shall be knit to the human in Jesus ! I shall stand 
Where the sinning men saved stand : the roll 
3f the worlds ever moving around me : the flight 
Df the thronging attendants of spirits, the life of 
Sternity dreaded, unknown, shall awake to my 

sight, 
Vs the feverish dreams turn to joy when the suf- 
ferer wakes to the light. 



35 



WON AND WIDOWED. 

[In a village in Switzerland, a young guide on his way 
back from his wedding, met a party of tourists who were 
looking for a guide to explore a glacier. The young 
bridegroom left his bride at the chalet door as they re- 
turned from the church, and went as he was in his gay, 
peasant wedding clothes, the bride promising to keep a 
light in his window until he should return. 

The guide fell through a ravine, upon a glacier bed, 
and was lost. 

The widowed wife true to her vows, having learned that 
in the course of fifty years, the glacier would emerge froni 
the ravine, waited all these years, and after watching at 
the mouth of the ravine, at last discovered her lost hus- 
band frozen in the ice, fifty years after his wedding-day. 
She, an old woman, looked once again on the marble face 
of her youthful husband, and conducted his body to the 
village church, where the funeral service was held, fifty 
years after the wedding-day]. 



^^^AID Margaret : " At last he is mine, 
^^ old on his glacier-bed — 
My husband has come to these arms, 
My Ernest has come to the light, 
36 



fVOJV AND WIDO WED. 

Out from the robber ravine 
Which snatched my darling away, 
While I in this death-watch of years, 
The flickering taper have burned 
In the chalet window each night, 
Waiting in vain for a step 
Never again to be heard, 
Looking in vain for a face 
Never again to be seen, 
Until now. Oh ! the strife of these years. 
He so young and so fair — 
Clad in his gay Tyrolcse ; 
Silent and cold on his bed— 
I so haggard and old — 
Wrecked, and thwarted, and cursed 
In the throw of my chance for life, 
Maddened and torn from my love, 
Ere the breath of his kiss was cold. 
As he touched my trembling lips 
At the chancel-rail — while the priest, 
Hid by the incense smoke. 
Knelt at the altar step. 
Have met — at the jaws of this cave. 
Spanning a widowed life — 
Hiding a buried love ! 
37 



WON AND WIDO WED. 

*' One more kiss on that marble face, 
One look more at the darling boy, 
He is mine; rob me not of my right : 
For this moment my heart has beat on 
The goal of my living — is this. 
While others have hated, and loved, 
Have squandered, and striven, and toiled. 
Have begotten, have buried, have wed, 
Noiselessly I have lived on — 
With the slowness of Fate I have moved, 
Towards this day, while the glacier-bed 
Has slowly moved onward to me ! 

" Oh ! loved soul, in what world 
Are hidden the thoughts of thy love, 
Those heart-throbs pent-up for thy wife 
Widowed and weary for thee ? 
By what stream, by what meadow of bliss 
Shall our love, rudely rent by the storm, 
The snowdrift has piled in our path, 
Be woven to oneness again — 
Be made to the pattern of yore ? 

" Lead on, up the rugged defile, 

Towards the church on the grassy slope> 
38 



WON AND WIDOWED. 

Where man and wife we came down, 

When the call for a guide he heard. 

Gray-haired matron, alone 

Following the love of her youth. 

Mourner and dead we return ! 

'Tis but yesterday seen in my dreams, 

'Tis eternity lived by a child, 

Orphaned, and stricken, and sad, 

Ready to die any hour — 

But waiting to see once again 

The face of ray lover of old, 

To whom my young soul had been given ! 



30 



THE SPHYNX. 

^^H, Time! How strange thou art! 
^^ Thou hoary-headed king, with ages gray ; 
How thou dost trifle with each hopeful heart 
In wanton play I 

Oh, thou imperious lord ; 

Thy sway is boundless, and thy stern com- 
mand : 
Each gordian knot is cut as with a sword 
From thy great hand ! 

The cradle and the tomb 

By thee are joined in life — a year, a day ; 
'Tis when the flowers of earth are in their bloom 
That they decay. 

Speak, wintry Time: — Oh! why 

Should life be chained by iron links to death ; 

Why should the new-born child begin to die 

With his first breath ? 
40 



THE SPHYNX. 

The pyramids declare 

The truth that life is short, and art is long ; 
iWhere are the hands that reared them, where, oh ! 
where 

That countless throng? 

High o'er the buried dead, 

Like mountain walls that echo with the strife ; 
We hear the solemn, never-ending tread 
Of death and life ! 

The Roman hero's arch, 

The ruined domes and columns, so sublime, 
Point, like the fabled causeway, to the march 
Of giant Time ! 

Oh ! what a mockery this ! 

There was an Eden once, but at the gate 
Despair stood waiting side by side with bliss; 
And still they wait ! 

Fell me, ye sentinels — why 
Must man with his proud hopes be crushed for- 
ever ? 
Why from unfinished matter do ye try 
The mind to sever ? 
41 



THE SPHYNX. 



The answer comes not now : 

The silent stars above — the eddying sand, 
Move round some law — to which all creatures bow 
And nature shows her hand — • 

Remorseless, ruling all, 

A Sphynx upon her lasting granite throne 
Yet voices speak within — and spirits call 
Souls whom the spirits own. 



4a 



I 



THE ISLAND LIFE. 

" He that kecpeth thee will not slumber." 

V^N island in the sea of space, 
We walk upon the shifting shore ; 
We hear the ocean's ceaseless roar, 

And see its waves our steps deface. 

We hurry on — we soon are gone ; 
We scan the undiscovered main — 
That ocean all unknown — in vain, 

While still the tide is hurrying on ! 

We are but in our school-days here, 
With faculties all dwarfed and blunted ; 
Our highest growth of reason stunted, 

When midway in its proud career. 

A half a century is man's, 
A thousand years is Nature's time ; 
Which in this strange, uneven clime 

Is needed to complete their plans ! 
43 



THE ISLAND LIFE. 

But when immortal we shall rise, 
To study from the Master's hand, 
And with the angels understand 

What now is hidden from our eyes — 

'Twill be an ever-growing bliss 
To watch the planets on their way, 
With suns and systems, and to say: 

" Far back on earth I knew of this ! " 

The tablets of our memory 
Will shine like plates of burnished steel ; 
What now is lost, they will reveal, 

And what we know not, we shall see ! 

Yes, we on earth can fit the mind 
For higher pleasures yet to come — 
When through the worlds of space we roam, 

And ever-hidden wonders find. 

Thus God has said, " Let there be light" ; 
And what in earth's dark caves was made 
The sooty carbon, has obeyed 

His voice, and is the diamond bright. 
44 



THE ISLAND LIFE. 

Light — light is breaking out, and lo ! 
The problem now is solved ; for death, 
That darkened cloud, as with one breath, 

Is scattered ! — and the rest, we know ! 

Then, courage for the field of strife ! 
The trumpet's call to arms we hear; 
Arouse ! awake ! oh, never fear 

The conflict and the din of life ! 



45 



REASSURANCE. 

"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
faith." — I John v. 4. 

JS there a victory then 
Over our doubts and our fears ? 
Is there a passage for men 

Out of this valley of tears? 
For men who are weary and worn, 

Broken, desponding, and sad ? 
Is there Christ's smile for earth's scorn, 
Making the sorrowful glad ? 

Is there a joy for our trust, 

A hope and assurance of peace ? 
Is there a time when our doubts 

And temptations forever shall cease ? 
Is there a morning of light ? 

A Sabbath of quiet and rest ? 
When the end of the journey is reached, 

And the crown of rejoicing possessed? 



REASSURANCE. 

Yes ! For at last we shall find 

The Way, and the Truth, and the Life, 
In our Lord, as the end of our search, 

In Christ, as the goal of the strife. 
Doubt, and temptation, and sin, 

And the struggles we wage while we roam ; 
Will be hushed, in the past, and life's din 

Be forgotten when resting at home. 

So there's a victory then 

Over our doubts and our fears ; 
Faith shall forever give way 

To the knowledge which cometh with years ! 
A knowledge of hope changed to sight, 

Of trust to fruition made plain ; 
A life where the will and the power 

To love as Christ loveth shall reign. 



47 



CREED AND HOPE. 

1 ORD, when, oh when shall we begin to see 
■^ Each particle of jangled, warring truth 
Forever lost and reconciled in Thee ? 

Is not the other life perpetual youth 
With mind unfolding, always sunned upon 

By Him who lighted every sense even here? 
Oh ! wilt Thou not shine ever on, and on, 

Till in our littleness we're brought so near 
Thy free life-giving self, that every shell 

Shall burst its bands and cerements and fly out 
Into Thy infinite sea-room where no spell 

Palsied with death shall seize upon the doubt 
Of him who would believe and know ! Oh, free 

Our wearied minds, dear Lord, at last in Thee. 



48 



1 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 



ONG ago, in solemn midnight, 



Shepherds watched upon the plain. 
When a band of holy angels 

Sang the earliest Christmas strain. 

Chorus. 
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 
Glory be to God on high ! 

Gently flowed the silent waters 

In the stillness of the night, 
And the glittering stars in heaven 

Shone with pure and silvery light. 

Chorus. 

Heaven is opened, all its glory 

Bursts across the eastern sky, 
For the harmony of seraphs 

Tells that Christ, the Lord, is nigh. 

Chorus. 
49 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

Now the golden gates are open, 
Enter ye, who love the Lord ; 

For the Saviour's love hath triumphed, 
As He promised in His Word. 

Chorus. 

Join the angels in their chorus, 
Praise the Lord, who came to die ; 

Praises, in the highest, praises; 
Glory be to God on high ! 

Chorus. 



50 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 



w 



HO is this in Bethlehem's town, 
Brings the holy angels down — 
Shepherds too, and wise men bow, 
Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! 

In the temple, who is He, 
Aged Simeon longs to see? 
Happy saint, he pays his vow, 
Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! 

Who is He in yonder cot. 
Bending to His toilesome lot, 
Veiled in flesh we know Thee now, 
Son of man, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! 

Sing we then with heart and voice. 
While the sons of men rejoice. 
While heaven's glory crowns Thy brow. 
Son of God, 'tis Thou ! 'tis Thou ! 
51 



CHRISTMAS CAROL. 

Hail the Saviour, praise Him then, 
Heaven's own richest gift to men, 
Son of God — of man, 'tis Thou 
We would ever praise as now. 



52 



The Voice of 

St. John. 

AND 

Other Poems. 

BY 

Wm. Wilberforce Newton. 



H248 78 535 









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